PARIS: Bolts keep hopes alive with best win of year

SAN DIEGO — We're in the holiday spirit, and why not? So we'll
take a slight liberty with our favorite Christmas carol and apply
it to the surging Chargers: "Since we've no place to go, let it go,
let it go, let it go.''

You go Chargers, and with two games remaining, why not stay warm
by the fire and in the playoff race?

"We're back in the hunt,'' quarterback Philip Rivers said.

The Chargers are there, and they arrived in convincing fashion
Sunday night with their best win of their uneven season. They
clobbered the visiting Baltimore Ravens 34-14 and live another
day.

What a day it was before the kickoff punctured the cool evening
air. The AFC West-leading Broncos fell to the Patriots, which
sliced the Chargers' two-game deficit in half after the Ravens
mugging.

Plus, the Jets lost to the Eagles, which aids the Chargers'
wild-card chances.

The Chargers' odds in pulling off this Christmas miracle after
their mid-season, six-game skid? Slim, and the Chargers, winners of
three straight, will embrace it.

"We got to keep winning and we need help,'' said Rivers, who
sped past 4,000 yards passing for a franchise-best fourth straight
year. "But we were sitting at 4-8 (in 2008) and it happened.''

What the Chargers hadn't absorbed is the challenge of playing
top-shelf teams. Among their six victories, before Sunday, none
were against squads with winning records.

The Chargers, when matched against the Patriots, Jets, Packers
and Bears, weren't up to the task. That all changed with a
beat-down of the birds that few saw coming in the Chargers' most
complete performance of the season.

Turner has taken his share of hits — deservedly — so he gets
praise when it goes right. He even displayed his postgame sense of
humor when asked about this year's wild ride.

"It's just been a blast,'' Turner said, with a rare grin. "It's
the NFL. It's a grind, but it's a good grind.''

Rivers was sensational for the third straight week. He threw for
270 yards and a score as his tsunami of turnovers are in the
distant past.

Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert continue to give the Chargers a
two-headed running monster few want to tame. Mathews had 90 yards
and two touchdowns; Tolbert added one touchdown.

That nasty Ravens pass rush? Maybe it was confused by the
stadium's name change and went elsewhere. The NFL's sack leaders
were blanked, as the offensive line blocked it up right.

"It starts up front,'' Turner said.

Defensively, the Chargers gave up nearly 300 yards, but not many
points. It collected seven sacks and two turnovers — Takeo Spikes
and Shaun Phillips had interceptions. And once it was presented a
31-7 third-quarter lead, that Chargers' defense knew the Ravens
would be hard-pressed to rally.

The Ravens aren't built that way; the Chargers are constructed
to score and put the most points on Baltimore this season.

"We knew what they could do,'' said Ravens offensive coordinator
Cam Cameron, who once held that job here.

But the math is still against the Chargers, no matter how warm
they are to the touch. The Broncos need to win one game, either
Saturday at Buffalo or Jan. 1 against the visiting Chiefs to clinch
the division.

The Chargers, December's darlings, need to keep prevailing with
dates on Saturday in Detroit and New Year's Day in Oakland.

"We're definitely not rooting for Denver,'' Tolbert said. "We
want to win and get in the playoffs.''

They look forward, but the pratfalls of October and November are
never far away.

"Every time we win a game, the first thing that pops into my
mind is the games that we let get away,'' Rivers said.

But the Chargers didn't fade away, and they deserve kudos for
that.

"The one thing true in all the scenarios is we have to win our
next two games,'' Rivers said. "Let's just focus on us and what we
control. If it's not enough after Jan. 1, then it's not enough. But
we are going to go down fighting.''

They've been bloodied and battered. But while many were ready to
administer a standing-eight count, the Chargers remain in the
tussle.

But they need to perform like Sunday and find a rabbit's foot to
rub.

"You obviously need some luck in the situation we are in,''
Turner said.

What a game, and to all a good night. We'll see you in Detroit
where the Chargers' playoff hopes will be hung with care.